Friday, April 8, 2005
Wagner's "The Ring of Nibelung"This week has been hectic, so I've not blogged as much as I would have
liked. I'm seeing Wagner's Ring Cycle this week at the Lyric Opera in
Chicago. Yes, four operas, ranging from 2 1/2 hours to over 5. Wow!
It's absolutely amazing. Over the top. Outrageous. We bring box dinners
to eat during the first intermission. What fun! The story is crazy, out
of control (he really needed an editor), but the music is so fantastic
it's ridiculous. Truly. I don't know how else to describe the
experience of seeing so much in such a short period of time. I can't
imagine watching them one after another (that would be 15 hours
straight -- yikes!) when the schedule we're following is already so
hard: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. I'm actually exhausted at
the end of each one. There's so much to digest with each opera
(combined with nearly 5 hours of sitting in cramped orchestra seats), I
sleep like a baby after each performance. 11:22:18 AM | I've complained a bit about the story, which drives my mother crazy. She loves the Cycle unconditionally; I can't help but see the glaring flaws in the story (why on earth would Brunnhilde fall in love with Seigfried?! Give me a break!), and I get a little irritated with Wagner and his exhausting expositories. There's much more talk than action in these operas, actually, and there comes a point in the final acts when I want him to give up the ghost and end it already. There's only so much that can be said! But these are minor complaints given the grandiosity of the whole enterprise. Yes, Wagner was an anti-semite and his operas, particularly the Ring Cycle, gave fuel to Hitler and his minions. But the music exists as a piece of art separate from politics, too, and on that level it is without parallel. I can't believe I'm saying all this. Before the cycle started, I was actually kicking myself for agreeing to see it. The thought of four long operas in one week freaked me out, especially Wagner operas (I'd only seen one before -- The Flying Dutchman). Now I know it was silly of me to worry. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I'm so lucky! By the way, Brunnhilde rocks. Who knew?! 
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"Are we better off with a foreign policy that promotes regime change while justifying war with false information?"If you read nothing else today, read this, "Are We Better Off?" by US Rep Ron Paul of Texas. 9:33:38 AM | This may be the one time in my life I have been in complete agreement with a Republican. It might be the last; who knows. But this man has said it all and said it as clearly as possible: We have lost our way by rejecting the beliefs that made our country great. We no longer trust in trade, friendship, peace, the Constitution, and the principle of neutrality while avoiding entangling alliances with the rest of the world. Spreading the message of hope and freedom by setting an example for the world has been replaced by a belief that use of armed might is the only practical tool to influence the world and we have accepted, as the only superpower, the principle of initiating war against others. Preach it, brother!
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Last update: 7/17/05; 10:11:48 AM .
